Moonfall for Voice and Piano

Hi guys! Hope you're all doing well. So, I wrote a poem two months back, and whilst I did, I also made a melody out of it just because lol. So, I thought it had the potential to become an art song, so I composed it. By the way, this song just contains the first stanza of my poem. Do you think I should make more songs for each stanza to do like a song cycle or something? Anyways, I sang this myself because I find vocal soundfonts to be... nauseating. Anyways, I am no singer, so try not to roast me too much for my voice lol. Do tell me how you like it, or if you have any suggestions.

Wow...

Your voice is wonderful, I love the timbre and emotion in your singing. Don't be bashful about it!

Do I think you should do more songs? Definitely :)

Please keep writing and performing these, I had no idea I'd like your vocal music so much

3 hours ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

Wow...

Your voice is wonderful, I love the timbre and emotion in your singing. Don't be bashful about it!

Do I think you should do more songs? Definitely 🙂

Please keep writing and performing these, I had no idea I'd like your vocal music so much

 

Thank you so much, Vince! This just made my day 😊

Hey @ComposedBySam!

Great piece!  I think, even though you wrote the voice part in treble clef 8vb, I think the actual range of your voice reaches to the levels expected of a Baritone rather than a Tenor voice!  The Tenor voice's lowest note is usually B an octave below middle C.  While the Baritone (I am one myself) can reach all the way to G an octave and a half below middle C.  So I think it would have been more appropriate to write the part in bass clef.  Like Vince, I love your singing!  I think just from hearing your voice and your style of singing and composing of this song, I can hear an Indian influence/heritage in it.  I am also stoked to hear more of the stanzas of your poem realized in this way!  Great job and thanks for sharing!

1 hour ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Hey @ComposedBySam!

Great piece!  I think, even though you wrote the voice part in treble clef 8vb, I think the actual range of your voice reaches to the levels expected of a Baritone rather than a Tenor voice!  The Tenor voice's lowest note is usually B an octave below middle C.  While the Baritone (I am one myself) can reach all the way to G an octave and a half below middle C.  So I think it would have been more appropriate to write the part in bass clef.  Like Vince, I love your singing!  I think just from hearing your voice and your style of singing and composing of this song, I can hear an Indian influence/heritage in it.  I am also stoked to hear more of the stanzas of your poem realized in this way!  Great job and thanks for sharing!

 

Thank you so much, Peter! I was kinda reluctant at first to perform this myself, given I knew almost nothing about vocal performance beforehand—so it’s a great relief to know that my singing skills are passable for a casual performance, haha! (It’s a good thing I took a week’s time to gain some vocal literacy and work a bit on my atrocious passagios, or I would have caused your ears to bleed lol) 

Regarding the clef issue, as per my knowledge, for an art song/lied, it is standard practice to write the voice part in treble clef notwithstanding the range of the singer. The reason is, most singers, with the exception of basses, have been historically trained to read music in treble clef, and are expected to transpose the part according to their respective ranges. For example, there is this song cycle by Beethoven called “An die fernen Geliebte” which is also primarily for baritone, but all the scores I have seen so far have had the voice part written in treble. Same goes for songs by Schubert. Another reason is to make the song non exclusive and meant for any singer of any range. At least that’s what I know.

(Edit: Now that I did some digging, I learned that the treble clef convention I followed is a bit old-fashioned, and that modern art songs favour using a clear bass clef for baritones and basses. Anyhow, I kind of wanted the piece to not be exclusive to a particular voice range, so treble use is still justifiable given my case. Thanks for bringing this up. I learnt something new.)

Your observation about my singing having a sense of Indian influence is actually very interesting! Although I am untrained in Indian classical music, my knowledge about it being mostly realised through a western lens or framework (even though I am Indian myself), I did grow up in a household where Indian folk and classical music were played almost everyday. So my baby brain might have picked up the way Indian folk melodies are ornamented, phrased, and contoured haha! It’s interesting to think about

Hi @ComposedBySam!

Really like your poem, piece and singing! I like the occasional short imitations between parts like in b.9 or b.17 which strengthen the chasing theme. I really like the "dismantle this church that bows before strife" lyrics when you really dismantle by getting up an octave and ends on a high register, and then a half cadence which is resolve sacarstically to A minor. Wonderful job here. And also the "sacrificed in vain" lyrics when the voice ends in confusion with diminished 7th chords and the voice breaks off! The F minor modulation in b.47 is wonderful when it's matched with "grave" in the poem! A wonderful lied in my opinion.

On 12/17/2025 at 10:57 PM, ComposedBySam said:

So, I thought it had the potential to become an art song, so I composed it. By the way, this song just contains the first stanza of my poem. Do you think I should make more songs for each stanza to do like a song cycle or something?

I think you should definitely make more lieder out of your poem, instead of having a strophic setting, because your through composed technique is wonderful and well matched with your lyrics!

Thx for sharing!

Henry

7 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Hi @ComposedBySam!

Really like your poem, piece and singing! I like the occasional short imitations between parts like in b.9 or b.17 which strengthen the chasing theme. I really like the "dismantle this church that bows before strife" lyrics when you really dismantle by getting up an octave and ends on a high register, and then a half cadence which is resolve sacarstically to A minor. Wonderful job here. And also the "sacrificed in vain" lyrics when the voice ends in confusion with diminished 7th chords and the voice breaks off! The F minor modulation in b.47 is wonderful when it's matched with "grave" in the poem! A wonderful lied in my opinion.

I think you should definitely make more lieder out of your poem, instead of having a strophic setting, because your through composed technique is wonderful and well matched with your lyrics!

Thx for sharing!

Henry

 

I am sooo sooo glad you liked the compositional devices I used! Thanks a lot Henry ☺️